Winning the Cruise
by oceans-of-light
Summary: When Lily wins a cruise in the Mediterranean that is entirely run by wizards, she never expects to have her summer turned upside down by four unexpected passengers, a poor waiter that loves her, and a tragic accident. Not DH compliant.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: hope you like it. If you do please review!!! Oh and this story is happening as if it is 2007, not the seventies. It has all of our recent technologies for ships and other things. this one is by dl **

**Disclaimer: do I look like J. K. Rowling? checks mirror darn nope. I guess I don't own it**

Winning the Cruise

-Chapter One-

Lily was still sleeping in her bedroom home in London when an owl hooted loudly out of her window. Startled, Lily rolled over and fell on the floor. She rose, grumbling curses, to her feet. The owl wasn't the type that Hogwarts used, but a snowy white one. And she had already gotten her Hogwarts letter at the beginning of summer. She would be starting her seventh year of Hogwarts in six weeks.

Lily went to the window and opened it, letting the owl fly in. It dropped its thick parchment letter in her hand and then hooted loudly and flew back out of the window.  
Lily looked over the letter before she opened it.

_Miss L. Evans: _

_The Ministry of Magic is pleased to inform you that you have won a free cruise on the luxury liner _Anastasia_ which sails through the Eastern Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. This cruise is the only entirely wizard run liner in the world and there will be no Muggles aboard. As our winner for this draw, you and two friends will receive exclusive first class cabins and all expenses paid. If you accept this offer please send your answer to the Ministry of Magic by July 15. The cruise leaves from Hastings on August 3 and will return to the port of Athens in Greece on August 20. _

_Congratulations on your win and have a good time! _

_Madam Edgecombe _

Lily read it over and then jumped up and down. The cruise had been advertised in Hogwarts at the end of fifth year and applicants had a whole year to enter for it. Lily couldn't believe she won. Out of all of the wizards and witches in the world, she had won! It was amazing. Lily quickly went downstairs and sat down for breakfast.

"Hey Mum, look what I got," said Lily, showing the letter to her mother.

Mrs Evans laughed. "Lily, I'm not a mind reader. It looks like a piece of paper. What does it say?"

"I won a cruise to the Mediterranean Sea!"

"Oh, Lily that's great!" Mrs Evans said. At that moment Lily's older sister Petunia came down the stairs, looking furious.

"Mum, that wretched owl of Lily's woke me up," she said angrily, not even looking at her sister. They were total opposites. Where Lily's hair was thick and a deep auburn, Petunia's was pale and thin blonde. Lily's beautiful green almond shaped eyes awed all, but Petunia's pale eyes were boring. Petunia's jealously over Lily was obvious.

"Petunia, dear, I am sure Lily meant no harm. And besides, it saved me the trouble of going up the stairs to wake you. Remember you have to get to the cafe by nine, and it's already eight thirty."

Petunia turned to Lily. "Why do you have to have an owl? You are a freak enough as it is."

"It wasn't Delta," retorted Lily. "It was from the Ministry of Magic. I won a cruise trip. It's two weeks long."

"So does that mean you'll be gone for two weeks? Two weeks where I won't have to put with you."

Lily was about to make an angry retort, but Mrs Evans interrupted. "Girls, please stop fighting." Petunia shrugged and then began to eat her porridge.

"Lily, dear, can you bring guests on this trip?" asked Mrs Evans as she poured two glasses of orange juice.

"Yeah, I can bring two friends."

"Why don't you bring Petunia along?" asked Mrs Evans sweetly.

"NO!" said both Lily and Petunia angrily. "Mum, I hate doing things with Lily," said Petunia. "Especially those stupid mother/daughter things you plan." With that Petunia stomped up the stairs angrily. SLAM! Mrs Evans sighed. "Lily, would you please take Petunia with you?"

"No, Mum, I can't. Only witches and wizards are allowed." Lily finished her breakfast and then went upstairs to write to her best friends Arielle Boleyn and Hestia Thomas:

_Hestia, Arielle;_

_This is Lily, and oh Merlin! You know that cruise that we all entered for at the end of fifth year? Well I WON! I am so excited. I get to bring two friends, and guess who they are? Anyways, the cruise leaves on August 3 from Hastings and ends on the twentieth in Athens. Please please say you can come! Send your answer back to me by tomorrow, because I have to tell the Ministry. We get first class everything and all expenses paid! I am so excited. Hope to hear from you soon! _

_Lily_

Lily quickly duplicated the letters with a wave of her wand and folded them in half. She called to her grey owl, Delta. "Take one of these to Hestia, and the other Arielle. Okay?" Delta hooted loudly and nibbled Lily's ear.

Lily passed the rest of her day planning what she would need for the trip. Delta returned at about five o'clock (Arielle lived in Scotland and Hestia in Northern England). Delta was tired and gulped some water and curled up in her cage.

The next morning, Lily woke up to two letters sitting on her window sill, from Arielle and Hestia. She read them quickly and both of them had agreed to come. Lily wrote to them to tell them to come to her house on August 1st so Lily's dad could take them to Hastings.

The rest of the month of July passed quickly and on July 31 Lily could not sit down, she was too excited. She paced the living room for hours, annoying her dad to finally have him leave the room.

Petunia was actually happy to see Lily because it would be only a few days before she left for two weeks. Lily was so excited and she couldn't wait for Arielle and Hestia to arrive.

Lily slept deeply that night, and when she woke up she heard a distinct Scottish accent talking downstairs. Arielle! Lily jumped out of bed, but slipped on the polished wood and fell hard. She lay on the floor for a while, not wanting to injure her back any more then it was. A chuckle made her raise her head. There, in the doorway, stood Arielle. Arielle had black hair and startling electric blue eyes. She was very pretty. "Lils, what are you doing on the floor?" she asked, a Scottish burr in her voice. Lily smiled weakly and sat up slowly.

"I fell," she said. Arielle laughed and pulled Lily to her feet. "How are you?" Lily asked.

"Fine, but I can't believe you won the cruise! Didn't like thousands enter?" Lily nodded and Arielle shook her head. "Lucky Lily."

"Yup."

"So when is Hestia coming?" Arielle asked, pushing some clothes off of Lily's bed, with a sigh. Arielle was a very neat witch and she often got annoyed at Lily and Hestia for leaving clothes around the dormitory they shared at Hogwarts.

"Around noon, I think. But knowing her, maybe around two," said Lily. "My dad will drive us down to Hastings as soon as Hestia arrives, because it's a long ride and that way we can still get there on time."

Arielle picked up an old _Daily Prophet _and began to do the crossword while Lily went to the bathroom to dress. As soon as she came out, the doorbell rang. Arielle and Lily went downstairs and say Mrs Evans greeting Hestia Thomas and her father. Hestia's father was pureblood wizard and even though he didn't hate Muggle - borns, he didn't like Muggles themselves.

Hestia smiled when she saw Lily and Arielle. She was no where as near pretty as either Lily or Arielle, but she was not terrible looking either. Hestia had black hair as well and rosy cheeks. She had thin black rimmed glasses and grey eyes that were heavily outlined by black mascara.

Mr Thomas nodded his head to acknowledge Lily and Arielle and then gave Hestia a hug goodbye. Then he turned on his heel and Disapparated.

Mr Evans told the girls to get their trunks in the car and then he would drive them. Hestia and Arielle left, taking their trunks, while Lily went up the stairs to get hers. As she was on the landing, Petunia came out of her room looking even more furious then ever.

"LILY!" she screeched, her voice cracking on the last syllable. "You got another bloody owl letter. And it has been screeching for the past two minutes! Get it out of here!" Petunia stormed off. Lily made a face at her and then went to her room, to see what the owl had brought. A large tawny owl swooped down on her. Lily groaned. She recognised it as belonging to James Potter. The owl pecked her on the back of the head, so she sat up and took the letter off of the owl's leg and opened it.

_My dearest Lily,_

_It is my regret to tell you that I will not be able to write to you for a couple of weeks, because I am going on a trip with my friends. I will miss you dreadfully, especially your furious replies to all of my letters. _

_Yours truly, James_

Under that were several decorated hearts, which Lily could tell were drawn by either Sirius or Peter. Lily scoffed and threw the letter out, onto another pile of James' letters. She grabbed her trunk and went down the steps and out to the car. She put her trunk in and then went back into give her mother a hug goodbye.

"Have fun, dear," said Mrs Evans. "Write at least once a week."

"I will, Mum," she stuck her tongue out at Petunia for a goodbye and then went out to the car. She sat in the front beside her dad and Arielle and Hestia in the backseat.

Mr Evans made record time getting them to the ship, a football field long ship. It was seven o'clock and checks in had to be finished by eight, so Lily and her friends said goodbye to Mr Evans and went to join the line for check in. Lily and her friends were spotted by a ministry witch and they were admitted to the ship right away, given three passes that identified them as the winners, so they could get things for free.

They had the three most expensive rooms on the ship. Each room were the size of a classroom at Hogwarts.

Lily got the room in the middle, Hestia to the left and Arielle to the right. Lily wanted to just stay there and go to sleep, but Arielle and Hestia dragged her down to the dining hall for a snack. As her friends sat down, Lily stopped dead in her tracks, horrified. There, sitting at one of the tables with hot chocolate, were the four Marauders.

**A/N: please review, all opinons are highly valued. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: thanks to my one reviewer. And to all of you who put this on an alert (I think there was 4 of you) I would appreciate a review. Oh yea, and most of the rest of the story will alternate between James and Lily's view. Oh and between the waiter you'll meet in this chapter. (Won't give away his name)**

**Disclaimer: I hate to say this but I don't own Harry Potter**

-Chapter Two-

Lily gasped and pulled on the arms of Hestia and Arielle. "Look over there, its Potter and his stupid friends. What are they doing here?" she hissed. Hestia shrugged, but Arielle didn't look surprised.

"Who knows?" she said. "But Potter is filthy rich, so it wasn't out of the question they would come."

"But why?" Lily wailed. Her idea of a perfect summer was ruined. At that moment Sirius noticed the three girls. He elbowed James in the ribs and waved to the girls.

"Hey what are you three doing here?" Sirius asked. Lily was slowly edging away, but Arielle grabbed her arm to stop her.

"Lily won the cruise from the Ministry," said Hestia. "What are you doing?"

"James' parents paid for us to come because James made it to seventh year," said Remus. He elbowed James again in a joke, but James was staring at Lily, who was trying, without success, to pry Arielle's fingers of her arm.

"Well," began Lily, having freed her arm, "we have to go now. Bye." She grabbed Hestia and Arielle's arms and began to pull them to the exit. Hestia began to protest, she hadn't gotten her food, but Lily continued to pull them along.

As the Marauders watched in amusement as the girls left, Sirius noted, "Prongs, mate, Evans really doesn't like you."

"Shut up," snapped James.

* * *

Back at Lily's room, Arielle stood shaking her head at Lily. "Why do you hate him so much?" she asked.

"He's Potter," spat Lily. "He only wants to date me so he can say he has gotten all of the Hogwarts girls who are good looking." She looked accusingly at her friends. Hestia had gone out with James in fourth year for only a week, before James pulled a huge prank on her, Lily and Arielle, so she had dumped him. Arielle, who liked Sirius, went out with James trying to get closer to Sirius, but James dumped her after about two weeks.

"And besides," continued Lily, "he is such a prat. Those stupid pranks he pulls could really hurt someone one day."

With that Lily went to her bathroom and Hestia and Arielle went to their respectable rooms.

* * *

James was silent as Sirius began talking about going over to hit on the girl who was working at the cafe. Peter and Remus were talking with him. James was thinking of how Lily had edged away from him, looking disgusted. He was angry with himself. What had he done to make her hate him? She wasn't like all the other girls, James actually really liked her.

Sirius came back looking sulky and James joined in the laughter. For now he put Lily out of his mind. As a waiter came with their food, Sirius began to dig in, but stopped fork half way from his mouth.

"Prongs, guess who that waiter was?" Sirius said, looking at the waiter.

"Don't know," said James. "Who?"

"Snivellus," he said evilly.

Remus sighed and said, "Why do you guys have to make his life more miserable then it already is? And its summer."  
Sirius snarled at Remus, "Moony, go away." Remus shrugged and stalked off. Peter, after a moment's hesitation, followed. Sirius stood and glared at their retreating backs. "Who needs them? Come on, Prongs."

"Padfoot, we'll get kicked off the ship if we bully him now. Wait until we are at sea." Sirius scowled, but agreed. They went to their cabins, where Sirius began a rant about how James and Lily would never be.

* * *

Severus sighed in relief as he saw Potter and Black rise and leave without coming over to bug him, even though he knew Black had recognised him. He wasn't afraid of them anymore, but they still sometimes intimidated him. He had only taken this summer job as a waiter because his mother was the guest services guide and she had told him that Lily Evans had won the contest. Perhaps he could get her to like him on this trip, but then Potter just had to come along as well. He had dreaded going over to deliver the Marauders food, but he wanted to get paid.

Severus went over and picked up the uneaten food and brought it back to the kitchen. As he went to the kitchen he saw a peculiar sight.  
The captain was talking furiously with one of the guests, a short woman with gray hair and many jewels. Severus didn't want to eavesdrop, but he did nonetheless.

"Ma'am, I am sorry, but there is no reason to lock your jewels in the ship safe! They are perfectly safe with you."

"Captain," said the woman in a foolishly high voice, "I have reason to believe that Death Eaters will be attacking this ship and I am afraid they will take my jewels."

Severus gasped. Death Eaters? Here? He desperately hoped not. They had arisen a few years ago and we terrifying.

The Captain did not look afraid. "Ma'am, if Death Eaters attack this ship, your jewels will be the least of their concern. Good night," he said, walking off.

Severus eyes were wide open as he walked back to the kitchens. He tried to put this out of his mind, but he had no idea that what the lady believed (about the Death Eaters, not her jewels) was about to come true.

**A/N: so what did you think? Good? Bad? Terrible? I really want to hear from everyone who reads my story. Opinions highly valued. REVIEW. Also, sorry about it being on the short side, I plan to have the next one longer.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I am so excited! Eight people have this on alert! Thanks so much you guys! In this story, James is seeker at Hogwarts and Sirius is a beater. **

**Disclaimer: I'm crying, but I don't own Harry Potter.**

-Chapter Three-

Lily woke up the next morning to Hestia jumping her bed. "Lily, wake up! I want to go to the pool!" Hestia cried. Lily grumbled and rolled over. But Hestia grabbed her feet and pulled her off the bed. Lily grabbed her pillow from her bed and curled up on the floor.

"Arielle, come get her. She won't listen to me." Arielle came out of Lily's bathroom, fixing her hair and looking stunning in a blue bikini. She was carrying a glass of water and was sipping from it every few seconds.  
"Lily, get up," Arielle said. She considered for a moment and then dumped the water on Lily's head. She sat up spluttering. She saw Arielle standing over her with a downturned glass. She cursed and got to her feet.

"What was that for?" Lily asked furiously. She shook her red hair and splattered Hestia and Arielle.

"You wouldn't get up and I wanted to go to the pool before breakfast," said Hestia, who had changed into a yellow bikini.

Lily made a face and then went to the bathroom to get into her bikini. Hestia tapped her foot impatiently, while Arielle made Lily's bed with a flick of her wand.

A few minutes later, Lily was ready and the three of them went down to the top deck pool which was just for relaxing, while the second one was for the kids to swim in.

As they relaxed in the pool, Lily thought she felt eyes on the back of her head. She angrily thought that it was Potter, but when she turned, she saw the fleeting image of someone with a hook nose, black eyes and greasy hair.

Lily wrinkled her nose and turned back around. She knew that Snape had liked her, but he was not the person she liked at all.

* * *

Severus was sitting in the servants quarters (yes it was still called that) and was watching Lily Evans as she relaxed in the pool. He knew that he shouldn't like her; after all he had called her a Mudblood in front of a lot of people in fifth year.

He was daydreaming about her when Lily turned around to glare at him. He ducked down, but his cheeks burned. When he looked up again, Lily had turned around and she was talking with her friends. One of them cast a look back at him and then spoke to Lily. Severus was deeply embarrassed and then went to the cafe to start his work.

* * *

James was sleeping when someone pounded on his head with a pillow.

"Prongsie, get up!" came Sirius' voice. He whacked James again with the pillow.

"Don't call me that!" said James angrily. He sat up and threw a pillow at Sirius but missed and hit Peter instead.

"Nice aim," said Remus sarcastically, as Peter swore at James. "Good thing you aren't a chaser."

"Or a beater," piped up Sirius. "Because you know, I am the best beater in the world." Sirius stood on James bed and hit his fist to his chest and poised like Superman. Remus snorted and pushed him off the bed. Sirius fell with a bang, but got up with a grin on his face.

"C'mon, its breakfast time!" he said joyfully and danced out of the room, pulling Peter with him by the arm. "C'mon, Remus. Leave Prongsie to get dressed."

Remus smiled at James and said, "We'll meet you at the cafe that we went to last night, okay?"

"Sure."   
Once Remus had closed his door, James went to get dressed. Once he was done, James began to head towards the cafe. As he left his room, James totally crashed into someone.

"Oh, sorry," he said. The person he crashed into was a middle aged woman who was wearing lots of jewels.

"Watch wear you're going," she snapped. She pushed her way past him and over her shoulder cast him a dark look. James scoffed and continued on his way to the cafe. Once he was there, he sat down with his friends and looked down the menu. A few minutes after he ordered, the cafe door opened again and three girls walked in, wearing t-shirts and shorts. Lily stopped in her tracks and narrowed her eyes at the Marauders. She walked past them after Hestia and Arielle and sat down at a table not far from the Marauders, her back to them.

Sirius shook his head and said sadly, "Poor Prongs." Peter snickered and Remus grinned. James made a face at them and flicked his wand at Sirius. Suddenly Sirius had a plateful of mashed potatoes in his face. Cursing, he rose to his feet and was about to curse James when a waitress appeared and began to lecture him and James about the improper use of magic they had just done.

When she was gone, Sirius mouthed to James, "You're dead." James grinned and waved his wand again, clearing Sirius' face of any potatoes.

Almost out of habit, James turned to see if Lily was watching, but she wasn't. She was talking to a waiter who had greasy hair. James snarled angrily and his friends turned to see what he was staring at.

"What is Evans doing talking to Snivellus?" he asked his friends furiously.

Remus shrugged. "Isn't he a waiter here?"

"So?" James said furiously. "He can't talk to Evans!"

"Yeah!" piped in Sirius. "She's Prongs' girl!"

Remus sighed. "Padfoot, Prongs, I think that Lily can talk to anyone she wants. After all, Prongs, she has never agreed to go on a date with you."

"Shut up, Moony," said James furiously. "Padfoot, Wormtail, are you coming with me?" Sirius nodded, drawing his wand.

"Wait," said Peter, "where are we going?"

"To jinx Snape into the next century," said James, rising from his chair.

"James," said Remus, "are you going to get yourself kicked off the ship before the cruise even starts?"

Sirius didn't hesitate, but James did.

"Fine, Moony," he said, "but as soon as we leave port, Snivellus is going to be history."

* * *

Lily and her friends left the pool at about nine and went to get shorts and t-shirts for breakfast. As they entered the cafe, Lily saw the Marauders. Her eyes narrowed, but she wasn't about to let them ruin her trip. She followed Arielle and Hestia to a table and sat down to eat. A waiter came to get their order and Hestia elbowed Lily. She looked up and saw Severus Snape who was smiling nervously. She smiled back; she had decided to forgive him for spying on her. 

"Um - uh can I-I take your order?" he asked nervously.

"Yeah, I'll have eggs and bacon with orange juice," said Lily. Hestia and Arielle said their orders as well. Once he was gone, Hestia burst into a fit of giggles.

"What?" asked Lily?

"Someone has a crush on you," Hestia said. Arielle rolled her eyes.

"Hestia, we all knew that. Potter, remember?"

"No, I mean Snape does too," said Hestia.

"I doubt it," said Lily. "Remember he called me a 'Mudblood' in fifth year."

"So?" said Hestia. "He was spying on you earlier and he could barely talk to you just now!"

"Oh, Hestia, I really don't –"

"Hey, Evans, can I talk to you?" said a deep voice.

"No, Potter, I won't go out with you," said Lily automatically.

"That's not what I was going to say," snapped Potter. "But you know I am the perfect person to go out with."

"What do you want, Potter?" snapped Hestia. She was giving him a glare that Lily mirrored.

"To talk to Evans," he said shortly, grabbing Lily's arm and pulling her to the side. She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and crossed her arms and began to tap her foot impatiently.

"What were you doing talking to Snivellus?" he demanded of her. Lily looked at him coolly.

"Why does that matter to you? You don't own me, Potter."

"He's Snape!" said Potter furiously. "And a Slytherin to boost! And remember he called you a 'you know what' in fifth year!"

"So?" said Lily. "I know what he is, Potter! You are practically no better! Pulling pranks right and left, not caring what happens to anybody you prank! You make me sick!" With that Lily stormed out of the cafe. Hestia and Arielle followed her, pushing past Potter as they went.

As they left the cafe, Snape came out with the girls food. He looked past Potter to the girls retreating backs. He scowled at Potter and turned to go back into the kitchen, but Potter pushed him on the back and he fell hard into the plates of food.

Potter snorted and left the cafe, his friends following him. Snape swore at him as Potter went, but drew his wand to simply clean up the mess. He would get even with Potter one day, he knew it.

**A/N: well that ones done and it was longer then the last one so that's good, right? I think that the initiating incident will happen either in the next chapter or the one after that. As always, review if you read.**


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks so much for all the reviews. You guys are the best! So I hope you like this chapter!

Disclaimer: What? I don't have a plan to take over Harry Potter... what are you talking about?

-Chapter Four-

Lily was staring out at the blue sea, daydreaming, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. They had left port about an hour ago and land was becoming a distant object.

"Lils," said a hoarse voice. Lily turned to see Hestia standing behind her.

"Hestia? What's wrong?" Lily asked for Hestia was looking behind her with a worried expression on her face.

"Lily, you have to come with me. Potter and Black are going to kill Snape."

"What?!" said Lily, jumping to her feet. "Why?"

"I don't know, c'mon. Arielle already went to go and get the Captain. But I think you'll be able to calm Potter down, he practically only listens to what you say."

"Not when I say no to going out with him," Lily said under her breath as she and Hestia ran to the main deck.

There was James Potter and Sirius Black standing over Snape with their wands drawn and were laughing at him. There was a small crowd gathered, and many of them were laughing, because some of them went to Hogwarts as well and knew about the Marauder's torture of Snape.   
Lily stormed furiously over to Potter and pulled him away from Snape.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" she screamed at him. Potter shrugged, used to her yelling at him.

"Teaching a lesson."

"We are not at school, Potter," said Lily bitterly. "Get over yourself. Even at Hogwarts, you would bully him. And why?"

"He's Snape," retorted Potter.

"That isn't a good enough reason. In fact there is no reason to bully him. No reason to bully anyone. So get OVER yourself."

"Evans, be reasonable," said Potter smoothly. "He talked to you. I can't let him get away with that." Lily looked disgusted.

"He works here, Potter. And if you are doing this to impress me, I am not impressed. Leave him alone and get over yourself. Or jump overboard and go and bully the sharks. They won't take it lying down and so you'll get some competition, that's what you want right?"

"No," muttered Potter, having the grace to look ashamed.

"So go away and leave him alone, Potter," Lily spat at him. Potter shrugged and grabbed Black's shirt and pulled him along as they left.

"Snivellus, we'll get you when your girlfriend isn't around," spat Black viciously as Potter dragged him away. Potter elbowed him hard and pushed Black to the ground, continuing on his way out. Black swore, got to his feet and followed Potter.

As soon as they were gone, the crowd dispersed and Snape rose to his feet. He muttered a thanks but Lily was about to yell at him.

"Why can't you stand up for yourself?" she asked. "Do you really have to be stood up for by someone who doesn't like you and who you called a 'Mudblood'? Does it really take that much courage to stand up for yourself? No wonder you're a Slytherin."

Snape looked stunned and suddenly turned vicious, "Why do I need your help, anyways, Evans?"

"It seems like you do," said Hestia, joining in.

"Get out of it, Thomas," spat Snape. He turned back to Lily. "I don't need your help. I can handle Potter."  
"Good," said Lily. "I won't help you out anymore."

With that she and Hestia strode off. Almost as soon as they were back at their cabins, Arielle ran up to them.

"Oh my gosh, Lily it's all over the ship how you broke up that fight. The Captain wouldn't listen to me, so I had to tell him over and over again. And then this old witch came running in screaming about Death Eaters and a fight on the ship. So he finally listened, but since it was already over, he went to find Potter and Black."

"I hope they get hell," said Lily angrily. "And that Snape ... he couldn't stand up for himself.

"Well, we all knew that," said Hestia.

"Anyways," said Arielle, keen on continuing her story, "I heard that the Captain is banning Potter and Black to their cabins for a day.

"Should be the whole trip," said Lily.

"Yeah," said Hestia, a giggle creeping up into her voice, "but then, we wouldn't get to see James get rejected by Lily again. And again. And again-"

"Very funny," said Lily. Arielle gave a short laugh and Hestia giggled.

* * *

James was yelling at Sirius while Remus and Peter listened. "Padfoot, how could you say that Lily was Snivellus' girlfriend!?"  
"Well, she won't go out with you anyways," spat Sirius. He stood and slammed the door to his cabin. Remus shook his head as James continued to yell at the closed door.

"Prongs, mate," said Remus quietly, "I think that what Lily said is right."

"What?" asked James, suddenly stopping yelling.

"She said that if you are picking on Snape to impress her, to stop."  
"I wasn't doing it to impress her. And besides I can't stop picking on him. It's too much fun."

"Then don't do it in front of her. And don't do big pranks."

James looked disbelievingly at Remus. "You want me to stop pulling pranks?"

"No, but don't pull ones that are so big that it takes three weeks to clean up. Remember the toilet seat incident in fourth year?"   
"Yeah, yeah," said James absently. "So if I stop picking on Snape, Lily will like me?" Peter, who had been sitting in the corner snorted as if he thought this was highly unlikely, but Remus nodded.

"If you stop, she might."

James sat down on a chair and put his head in his hands. "I have too. I would do anything to make Lily like me."  
Sirius came out of his cabin and said, "See, Moony, I told you our plan would work. Wormtail, you owe me ten Sickles."

James jumped out of his chair. "You did this for a bet?"

The other three nodded, and James sighed. "Damn I hate how your bets always make me look like an idiot."

"But," said Remus, "I do think that I am right about Lily. So take some advice."

"From you, Moony, of course. But Padfoot, I still have to cream you.

* * *

Severus stood angrily staring out at the open water. He had just made a total fool of himself. And now he was sure that Lily hated him. "Damn, damn, damn," he said to the sea. He was about to go back to work, but then he saw a black spot on the horizon. He couldn't make it out, but then he realized that it was hooded people of broomsticks, coming ever closer.

"DEATH EATERS!" he yelled. Around him chaos ensued.

**A/N: sooo, was it good?? A cliffhanger right? Well you'll have to wait until at least tomorrow for the next chapter cause I have lots of stuff to do. As always REVIEW if you read. **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: thanks for the reviews. And I have twelve people who have this on an alert so thanks so much! But could you review if you put it on alert just so I know your opinion. Thanks! **

**A/Nx2: I know that the Death Eaters would probably not attack the first day they set out to sea, but let's just say that the magical ships can travel super fast, so they are already at open sea. And they could probably Apparate to the ship, but this one has anti-apparition wards and so no one can Apparate on or off. **

**Disclaimer: If dreams came true, then I would own Harry Potter.**

-Chapter Five-

Severus ran as fast as he could towards the alarm bell, not realize it was already ringing. He frantically pulled it and stared around at the people who were ushering children down to the bottom holds, while adults began to draw their wands. Some had already shot stunning spells at the Death Eaters, but it seemed to bounce off.  
"Snape," yelled one of the other workers on the boat. "Get down and take care of those kids! Gather some other passengers to help you." Severus didn't even think to disobey; he was terrified of what the Death Eaters would do, so he right away went down the stairs.

* * *

Lily had decided to finish her homework early so she sat and was halfway through a Potions essay when loud screams and the pounding of running feet roused her from her homework. She stuck her head out her door and say Hestia and Arielle out there just about to knock looked terrified. 

"Lily, there are Death Eaters coming!" said Hestia hysterically. Arielle, who was always calm, looked a bit panicked.

"What?!" said Lily, not wanting to believe it.

"Come on, we should go to where all of the other kids went," said Arielle. "Even if they are a lot younger I'm sure they could use the help."

The three of them went down to the first class Quidditch pitch (**Yes I know, a Quidditch pitch on a ship)** where tons of children had gathered. Lily saw some workers trying to organize something for them to do. Lily spotted Snape being mobbed by several five year olds who were crying for their mothers. Lily went over to them and bent down.

"Here," she said conjuring a book with her wand, "I'll read you all a story."

Almost all of the kids stopped crying or talking and came to sit in front of Lily. Arielle quickly transfigured a Quaffle that was sitting out into a chair and Lily sat on it and began to read all of the kids a story.  
"Once upon a time," she began. The workers muttered thanks and then left to go and see what was happening above. Snape looked ashamed and went off without saying anything. Lily continued, "There were two young witches named Helga Hufflepuff and Rowena Ravenclaw. Their friends were Godric Gryffindor and Salazar Slytherin. They loved to do magic, but there was no school for them to go to. So they taught themselves magic and then decided to set up their own school..." Lily continued the story as many tearstained faces turned to happiness as Lily continued.

* * *

The Marauders had heard the commotion and tried to join with the growing forces of Death Eaters, but had been told to go to the Quidditch pitch with the other kids. Sirius was grumbling angrily about this but then saw some cute witches and instantly floated over to them. Peter saw a table full of food that a worker had just conjured and headed in that direction.

James and Remus looked for chairs to sit on, but there were none so they sat on the grass, leaning against one of the goal posts. Lots of kids had gathered around someone and were sitting quietly at the other end of the pitch, but James couldn't make out who they were listening to. Remus, who had much better eyesight then James, could clearly see someone with red hair reading a story, but he didn't want James going over to Lily to ruin those kids fun.

Peter joined them and handed out Chocolate Frogs. They swapped cards for a while and then they began a talk of how the Death Eaters could have gotten on the ship when Sirius joined them looking disgusted.

"They got tired of me, so they went to listen to Evans read a story." Remus shook his head and directed it to James, but James had already heard.

"Evans is reading them a story?" he said, getting to his feet.

"Yeah, but Prongs, leave them alone."

"I'm not going to bother them," he snapped."I just want to... err..."

"Watch Lily," said Sirius, Remus, and Peter dully. James grinned sheepishly and strode over to where Lily was reading. He was quite close when two sets of hands gripped his arms.

"Potter, leave Lily alone," said Arielle who was giving James a death glare.

"I'm not going to bother her," retorted James who tried to free himself, but the girls were strong.

"Go away, Potter. She doesn't like you," said Hestia. They released his arms and pushed him to the ground.

"I just want to watch!" James snapped, getting up and brushing the dirt of him. He cast a look at Lily and ruffled his hair out of habit. He had been trying to stop since Remus thought that Lily hated that.

"What is there to watch?" asked Arielle. "She's reading the kids a story."

"And don't say you want to listen," said Hestia as James opened his mouth to say just that. James scowled and strutted of back to his friends

He plopped down beside them and glared angrily at the faint images of Hestia and Arielle.

"What happened?" asked Peter, whose mouth was full of Pumpkin Pastries.

"Lily's stupid friends stopped me from getting close," muttered James darkly. Sirius laughed and slapped James on the back making him choke as he had taken a bite out of a Cauldron Cake.

"Thomas and Boleyn?" said Peter. "I like Thomas. She's not as cold as that Boleyn. She scares me," Peter shuddered for good effect. Sirius snorted.

"Everything scares you, Wormtail." Peter and Sirius began a heated argument about what Peter was scared of, while Remus and James ate food.

* * *

Severus had run upstairs to join the duel with the Death Eaters, but it seemed that they couldn't land on the ship because of the magical boundaries, but their spells could come through. 

Four people were already dead because of one Death Eater sending Killing Curses. Severus shuddered. He narrowly dodged a jet of green light and stumbled over someone on the ground. He had drawn his wand and shot stunning spells at some Death Eaters, but it seemed to just bounce off. Severus was astounded. He did not know they had that kind of power. It kind of roused his curiosity.

Suddenly a huge explosion rocked the ship, sending everyone to the ground. Almost as soon as it started, the ship began to tilt to the side. Everyone screamed and scrambled to life boats as the kids emerged from below deck and joined their parents.

Severus ran to the life boats on the other side of the ship to locate his mother, but he gave up pretty soon.

* * *

Lily had just finished the story when a huge explosion rocked the ship. Immediately all the kids stood and ran up to the surface. Lily joined her friends as they ushered the kids out. Then they all ran to the boats on the other side of the ship to get a life boat.

* * *

The Marauders had joined the crowd exiting the ship and Sirius was leading and was following a crowd. But it was too crowded and they couldn't get near a boat. Remus, who was right behind Sirius, pulled on his shirt.

"Let's go this way," said Remus, pulling his friends around the corner he had just seen some other teens disappear around.

James was following Remus when he saw him leading them towards Lily and her friends who were climbing into a lifeboat.

"Hey what is Evans doing?"

"Does it matter, James?" asked Sirius exasperated. "Here is a lifeboat all ready and so just forget about Evans."

"Hey," said Remus, "this could be your chance to impress her."

James scowled, but silently agreed.

* * *

Lily was totally frustrated. The stupid lifeboat wouldn't budge and she and her friends weren't strong enough to loosen it and they didn't know the spell yet.

Lily gave up and sat down furiously on the deck. Arielle sighed and sat down next to her. But Hestia wasn't stopped she kept tugging and tugging. Her usually bright face was downcast but it suddenly brightened.

"I didn't think I would see the day when I was happy to see the Marauders," said Hestia smiling. Arielle turned to look at where Hestia was looking, but Lily scowled.

"I don't want their help," she spat. But Arielle and Hestia ignored her and waved the Marauders over. They spoke for a few moments and then three of the Marauders began to tug on the ropes with Arielle and Hestia. James bent down and looked at Lily, whose scowl deepened and she stood going to help her friends. James sighed and stood and helped pull as well.

They finally got it released and they climbed in, all but James and Sirius who were going to lower it into the water.

Severus had run around the ship and was herding some guests toward the lowered life boats. They were filled and there was no room for him, so he quickly ran around the ship to find others as more workers helped the passengers.

He saw a boat that was half empty and quickly ran to it. He almost stopped halfway there when he saw who was in the boat, but he figured if he pushed Potter off the side, then it wouldn't be a problem.

Without thinking, he pushed Black aside and shouted at him to get in the boat, he would pull it down, they had been taught how to do it to get a job on the ship.

Potter shot him a look of fury and refused to listen to his instructions, but it was only when Lily yelled at them to hurry up that he finally gave in.

"This had better work, Snivellus," he said icily.

"It will," said Severus angrily. After about five minutes the boat was finally in the water and Severus severed the ropes that had been lowering it with his wand.

Potter smirked and without hesitation jumped over the side and landed in the boat, but with a resounding _crack_. He screamed and it seemed that he had broken his leg.

Severus smiled gleefully. He transformed the boat quickly into a trampoline and jumped over and landed softly.

Lily scowled at him and turned it back. Black shot Severus a glare and swore at him. Severus made a face.

Lily was disgusted with the other occupants of the lifeboat. First Arielle, whose parents were Healers, was looking at James' broken leg with Remus. She didn't know why Arielle bothered, but she did. After all if was only James.

Hestia and Sirius had propelled their life boat away from the ship with their wands and had stopped several times to pick up stranded passengers. After a few minutes the boat was filled and all of the adults who they had picked up helped them move away from the sinking ship.

It was the evening of the first day.

**A/N: good? Bad? I know I kind rushed along the story and there will probably be another two chapters. Should I write a sequel? Maybe about them at Hogwarts after the summer. I don't know, so opinions valued**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: hope this wasn't too long of a wait. Thanks so much to my reviewers! You guys rock!**

**Disclaimer: Nothing is mine. Wait nothing associated with Harry Potter is mine. But I do have some stuff.**

-Chapter Six-

Lily sighed and sat down in the life boat. It was crowded now, but at least they were all safe. There was a Healer on board their little boat, and he fixed James up right away. James was furious that he had to get help; Lily had heard him complaining to his friends.

Arielle, who wanted to be a Healer as well, was speaking with the Healer and learning some techniques. Hestia was entertaining the four kids who were on the boat.

Lily sighed again and looked out to the sinking ship. She couldn't believe most of the others weren't watching but she didn't want to miss anything.

The ship's bow finally disappeared into the water, but thankfully, all lifeboats were off the ship and no one was on it when it sank, unless you count the people who had already been killed by the Death Eaters.

Speaking of Death Eaters, Lily looked around in alarm to see if they were around, but it looked like they had vanished.

"The Death Eaters left," said a voice. Lily started; she hadn't noticed that Snape was sitting next to her. "I saw them. They took one of the passengers with them." His voice was cold and hard.

Lily didn't know what to say so she stayed silent. The rest of the boat seemed to fall silent with Snape's words as well.

Then it was broken by James complaining of how he wouldn't be able to play Quidditch when they got back at Hogwarts. Several people told him to shut up and Lily had to try very hard not to push him off the boat.

* * *

James was scowling as people began to tell him to shut up. His leg still hurt and he was actually literally concerned about Quidditch, after all he was the Captain. He expected Sirius to understand, he was on the Quidditch team as well, but Sirius also got sick of James' complaining.

"Shut up, Prongs," said Sirius finally. James fell silent, fuming.

"It's no use getting mad," said Remus, "if you want to impress Lily remember, don't be an idiot."

James mimicked Remus' words but sighed and nodded his head. "Fine," he said. "Oh and Wormtail, if you're going to be sick, then throw up on Snivellus. It may get rid of some of the grease in his hair."

Then he shut his mouth promptly as his friends snickered, but Lily shot him a deadly glare. She opened to mouth to yell at him, but Hestia saw the warning signs and engaged Lily in a conversation quickly.

James sighed with relief, but he knew that if Lily was to be impressed he would have to stop being an idiot.

* * *

Severus glared at Potter and would have cursed him, but he knew that several more passengers of the boat were Ministry members; one was even an Auror, who was at the moment cursing the Death Eaters.

He had never hated anyone more then Potter, except perhaps Black. Those stupid Marauders were always being idiot pranksters.

* * *

Night fell quickly and the passengers were getting on each other's nerves. All except for James and Lily. Lily was utterly surprised by this fact. She had thought she would have pushed him off the boat by now, but he was being entirely civil to her.

That wasn't to be said for the rest of the Marauders or Lily's friends. Hestia and Remus were yelling at each other for some fact that no one could tell what it was. Sirius was nursing a slapped cheek from Arielle while she was yelling at him. And Peter ... he was just trying to get out of Arielle's aim line for Sirius, but you all know him. The Healer was tending to him.

Lily watched her friends in amusement for some time.

"That isn't right, Remus!" spat Hestia.

"Yes it is!" he retorted. "I checked it lots of times!"

"... And another thing, don't try to hit on me when I can easily push you into the freezing water!" Arielle was yelling. Sirius was sulking angrily and muttering curses.

"I'm a guy; it's what we do," he said furiously.

Peter was moaning on the ground, the Healer looked entirely frustrated. "There's nothing wrong with you!" he snapped. Peter ignored him and continued moaning.

A chuckle from the left of Lily startled her. She turned to see James watching Remus and Hestia yell at each other.

"They never seem to let up, do they?" he said quietly.

"Nope," said Lily. "They would be perfect for each other; they would have lots to talk about."

"You mean yell about," said James, grinning.

Lily smiled as well and then stopped. She couldn't believe she was getting along with James Potter, the one who had humiliated her in front of everyone. Couldn't he just take no for an answer?

As if James read her mind he said, "Nope."

"What?" Lily asked, surprised. He shrugged.

"Sorry, just talking to Remus."

"Oh," said Lily, her heart rate going back to normal.

* * *

James had finally got a chance to talk with Lily and she hadn't ripped his head off yet, so that was a good sign. 

He opened his mouth to say something to her, but nothing came. Thankfully Lily didn't notice, she was busy watching Arielle.

"You know," Lily said thoughtfully, "I think that it's pretty amazing that I haven't killed you yet."

James laughed and said, "I was just thinking that."

After a moment Lily said, "It's pretty fun, actually, to get to yell at you. You take it so well. Not like, well, some other people."

"Like who?" asked James teasing.

"Oh lots" said Lily, "like that Lucy Roberts. When we studying for exams in fifth year she would not stop talking."

"Oh yeah I remember that. You reduced her to tears."

"I didn't mean too."

"Sure Lils, sure," said James casually.

* * *

Lily was almost stunned to the point of denial. She couldn't believe that she was getting along with James. James bloody Potter. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

**A/N: someone is changing their mind, now isn't she? Well I hope you like this chapter. Sorry about there not being much Snape, but I got bored of writing him. Since one of my reviewers asked, I will keep them on the boat for longer before the end. Who knows what will happen? **


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I've decided that Snape won't be in this story much anymore, cause he gets boring to write. Thanks to all of my reviewers, you guys rock!**

**Disclaimer: if only I did own it...**

-Chapter Seven-

James was utterly and entirely pleased. He had talked to Lily and was still alive so that was good. Maybe he had a chance after all.

He was about to talk to Lily again, he someone sat down beside him and knocked James forward into Arielle who was still yelling at Sirius. There was a domino effect. Sirius crashed into the Healer who in turn crashed into Hestia, who was beside Lily. Lily, the unfortunate Lily, was knocked over and crashed into the side of the boat. She groaned and leaned over the edge and fell into the icy water.

"Lily!" six people yelled. Arielle, Hestia, Remus, James, Sirius and Snape leaned over the edge of the boat and looked for Lily.

James was about to dive in after her, when an arm pulled him back. "James, you can't go in there!" said Remus reasonably. "Wait until she surfaces. Otherwise you might land on her and drown her."

James tried to disagree, but eventually he saw the reasoning behind this. Arielle and Hestia were still busy scanning the water for their friend. Finally Sirius spotted a mass of orangey-red colour of thing floating in the water. James didn't listen to anyone but dived straight into the water to go after Lily. Her head was bobbing up and down and it seemed that she was sinking ever deeper.

James used his Quidditch strength to try and get to her quickly, but it seemed almost impossible. The current was dragging her away so quickly that once James had reached her, they were almost half a kilometre away from the boat.

James muttered a spell under his breath and he was instantly propelled forward and reached Lily in time. She was very pale and had stopped breathing. James had begun to panic and was trying to swim back to the boat with Lily alone, when suddenly the boat was right in front of him.

"James," said one of the Aurors who had obviously just checked on his name. "Give Lily here, we'll pull her in, and then get you."

James reluctantly let go of Lily and she was pulled into the boat. James was helped up quickly. Some one had transfigured a jacket into a huge blanket and Lily was wrapped in one, James in another.

* * *

The Healer tried to fix Lily up as best as she could, using the Water release spells on her chest. Lily spluttered up lots of water and then finally opened her eyes.

"W-what happened?" she managed to gasp out.

"You fell over board," said Arielle, who had tears in her eyes.

"It's my entire fault," wailed Hestia. "I crashed into you and you fell over."

"It's alright," said Lily faintly, her voice was soft. "How did I get out?"

"James went to go and get you," said Remus quietly.

Lily cast a look over to James who was sitting by Sirius and Peter. He was wrapped in a blanket and was shivering slightly. His hair was sopping wet and looked very cold.

"D-did he really?" asked Lily.

"Yeah. He didn't even want to wait until you surfaced to go after you."

"Why didn't he use magic?" asked Lily, shivering. The night air was biting into her skin, even through the blanket.

"He was so anxious to get you out. I don't he even heard us when he called to him to use his wand. He left if here on the ship; he thrust it into Sirius' hands before he dived in.

"B-but, I remember shooting through the water very fast. And I know I couldn't do that by magic without my wand." A few seconds of silence followed her sentence.

"I think," said Remus, "that James was so scared that you would drown that he performed wandless magic."

"He cared that much?" murmured Lily. She looked over to where James was sitting with his friends. He grinned widely when Lily looked towards him. This time she didn't see an arrogant jerk who was the biggest idiot in Hogwarts, but someone who was actually a kind person.

Lily turned back to her friends and saw that Hestia had finally calmed down and Arielle was looking at Lily closely.

"What?" snapped Lily.

"What do you think of him now? After he saved your life?" asked Arielle.

"I would have been rescued anyway," muttered Lily stubbornly. She couldn't admit to actually being thankful to James. Arielle and Hestia sighed loudly and shook their heads.

"Lily," said Hestia, who was beginning to get annoyed, "he saved your life! If he wanted to just get you for a _trophy, _then why would he go to all that trouble?"

Lily opened her mouth again but the Healer shoved a piece of chocolate in her mouth.

"Eat this it'll help."

"Lily," said Arielle, whose voice was strangely calm, a sign she was about to start to yell, "All Hestia and I are saying, is give James a chance. If you hate him that much and after you've gotten to know him, then push him into the lake at Hogwarts. That'll make him stop bugging you."

"But if he saved me, couldn't he swim out?" asked Lily, once she was done her chocolate.

"Lils, we can't have you kill him," said Hestia exasperated. "Although, sometimes if a teacher or we hadn't been there to stop you, I'm sure James would be dead. Remember the time when you –"

"Alright, alright," said Lily, throwing her arms up in surrender. "But if he's a jerk like I expect him to be, then I'm pushing all of you into the lake, ok?"

"Ok," said Hestia brightly. "I've never been pushed into a lake before." Sirius, who had been listening, suddenly grinned evilly.

"Really?" he said mischievously. Hestia looked at him and groaned.

"Great, as soon as we get back to Hogwarts, I'm going to end up in the lake."

They all laughed and Lily actually felt at ease since the ship had sunk. Some one sat down next to Lily. She turned her head and saw James looking at her worriedly.

"Hey, Lily, are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks for getting me out," said Lily quietly. She couldn't believe she was thanking James Potter.

"You're welcome," said James quietly. "I probably should have used magic, but I didn't think of it. You scared me, Lily."

Lily was silent. What could she say to that?

"Anyways," said James, his voice changing from soft and kind to the joking voice that he used often, "Don't fall in again, Evans."

"I won't," Lily promised. James grinned.

Lily was exhausted and so she fell asleep pretty quickly.

* * *

James was talking to Remus when a weight fell on his shoulder. He turned to see a mob of red hair leaning on his shoulder. Slow breaths escaped her; Lily had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He smiled at her head and put his head on hers, mixing their still wet hair.

**A/N: aw so cute! Well I think so anyways. So as always review!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: so this chapter may be the second or third last...not sure yet. Thanks to ALL of my reviewers. You guys are the best!**

-Chapter Eight-

Lily was sleeping peacefully, a dreamless sleep, when someone shook her awake.

"Lily, get up," said Hestia's voice. "A rescue boat is here."

"Really?" said Lily, fully awake now, but she didn't move from her position. It was oddly comfortable. "I thought that the _Anastasia_ was the only wizarding ship."

"This one's a Muggle ship, but I think the Ministry just decided to take it to rescue us. Come on get up." Lily's pillow shifted and she sat up straight suddenly as another voice reached her ears.

"God, Evans, your head is heavy," said James.

Lily realized that she had been sleeping on James' shoulder and immediately shoved past the other people on the lifeboat to get to Arielle who had continued her yelling match at Sirius.

"Arielle," said Lily quietly, "shut up for a second, I need to talk to you." Arielle was instantly silent. Sirius was so surprised that he was quiet for almost a minute before he started to talk again.

"What is it?" asked Arielle.

"I feel asleep on James' shoulder."

"I know," said Arielle. "I was kind of sitting beside you. Thank goodness you didn't fall on me, James has been complaining that his shoulder is broken now because of you sleeping on him."

"Oh," said Lily sadly.

"I'm just kidding," said Arielle. "Why do you care anyways? I thought you hated... oh, Lily, you've fallen for him."

"No I haven't!" said Lily annoyed. "I was only worried because... because maybe it would hurt our chances it Quidditch!"

"Oh please," said Arielle. "Even Sirius isn't worried about James' shoulder. And besides, you could care less about Quidditch. Remember? All the time when there is game at Hogwarts you don't want to watch, because you say it's boring."

"I-I," stuttered Lily, trying to come up with an answer. Arielle began to laugh. Hestia called them over to where the rescue life boat was approaching.

"Don't tell Hestia," said Lily quietly. "Wait until we're not around James anymore. Because she'll yell it out loud." Arielle agreed , but Hestia came over to them looking suspicious.

"What are you guys talking about?" she asked.

"We'll tell you later," said Arielle. Hestia scowled but nodded. They all piled into the rescue boat. It returned to the new ship called _Queen Sophie_. It was a smaller ship then the _Anastasia_ had been, and would be very crowded when all the rescued were on it.

As soon as Lily was on the ship, someone pulled her aside. Someone who Lily vaguely remembered.

"Hello, Rita Skeeter here, hoping for an interview." Ah yes, Rita. She had graduated Hogwarts last year and already gotten a job as a reporter.

"Rita? Why are you here?"

"Interview."

"NO, I mean how did you get on the ship?"

"Easy," said Rita. "But anyways, I hear that you, Lily Evans, were the winner of the Anastasia Cruise. What did this do to your summer?"

"Uh..."

"Of course, of course," mused Rita, as she drew out a Quick-Quotes Quill. "Would you say that it was the best experience?"

"Well no, I've had better."

"Interesting. I hear that you fell overboard and were rescued by James Potter. Care to elaborate?"

"How do you know about-"

"Thanks so much for your time, Miss Evans," said Rita smoothly, moving on to interview someone else.

"She's going to twist everything you said," said a voice behind her. James was standing behind her looking beyond at Rita. "Do you remember when she interviewed my dad about Auror policies ands he called him an old windbag with a big moustache?"

"Yeah and then you were so angry didn't Peeves even stay away from you for a week?" James grinned and nodded.

They were silent again, until Hestia stormed over to Lily, Arielle following her, and grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her to one of the benches.

"Tell me," she demanded. Lily sighed and explained everything. Hestia's small smile grew bigger and bigger until she burst out laughing. "Finally you've come around! I told you Arielle, I told you she would eventually!" Arielle scowled.

"So," said Hestia, once she was finished laughing, "have you told James?"

"No," said Lily quickly. "And I won't, I'll just say yes when he asks me out again and then I'll see if he wasn't just acting. At Hogwarts I bet he won't act." Hestia and Arielle exchanged glances and shook their heads.

* * *

James had ordered Peter to follow Lily and her friends to hear what they were talking about. He knew that he shouldn't spy on them, but it was to hard to not. Peter went as a rat and came back bubbling with excitement.

"Prongs, she said that she does like you now that you saved her, but she won't go out with you until we are back at Hogwarts because she wants to see how you act there." James scowled, but then brightened.

"At least she likes me now. I mean last week she hated me."

**A/N: so was it good? I want to have them back at Hogwarts just for a little bit to finish the story so that'll be the last two or three chapters. As always REVIEW!!!!!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: sorry if the wait was to****o long. ****So ... I hope this chapters ****good****! Oh and as another note, I'm thinking of writing another Lily and James ****fic**** once I'm done this one. So if you want to stick with me, I'll tell you all more details later!**

**Disclaimer: if dreams came true, I would own it.**

-Chapter Nine-

Lily, Arielle and Hestia were sitting near the rail, wrapped up in blankets and sipping hot chocolate.

"This trip," said Arielle "wasn't what I expected."

"Same here," said Hestia. "But I still can't wait to get back to Hogwarts. I miss the castle."

"Yeah," murmured Lily. She risked a look over to where the Marauders were sitting. Her green eyes rested on James for half a second longer then the others. Hestia and Arielle exchanged a glance but said nothing.

They were talking quietly when someone came over and tapped Lily on the shoulder. It was Remus. "Hey, Lily, I need to talk to you. It's about James."

"Ok," said Lily. She stood and followed Remus over to the rail. "What?"

"Listen, James wants to know if you're going to kill him if he asks you out again. Now before you say anything," he said quickly, because Lily looked like she was going to say something, "James really likes you and wants you to know that he doesn't just want to go out with you because it's some game or something."

"How do you know this?" asked Lily, looking suspicious.

"Let's just say that Peter is sometimes a rat. He can scurry around and just seems to pick up stuff." Remus smiled and went back to his friends.

Hestia and Arielle came over to Lily and looked curious. "What did he say?"

"He wants to know if I'll kill James if he asks me out again."

* * *

They were taken to Spain the next day after everyone who was in the water was rescued. Five people were dead because of the Death Eaters and more were injured.

"Excuse me, miss," said someone, rushing past Lily and knocking her to the ground. She cursed and stood angrily.

"Language, Miss Evans," said a cold voice. A woman walked by. She was covered in jewels and had grey hair. She was very short and her black eyes glistened with malice.

"Who was that?" asked Lily to Hestia and Arielle after she was gone.

"She seems familiar, but I know I've never seen her before," said Arielle. "I would remember that atrocious hair cut of hers."

They were staying in Spain for a week, and then flying back to London. Apparently the Marauders were staying as well. Speaking of the Marauders, they came up at that moment.

"Hey guys," said Arielle. Lily scowled as James came to stand next to her. She moved over to Hestia. She and Arielle rolled their eyes.

"Who was that woman who came up to you?" asked Sirius. "I recognised her voice when she spoke to you."

"Were you guys eavesdropping?" accused Hestia.

"No," they all said, faking innocence.

"I'm sure," said Lily. "So where do you think you recognise her from?"

"I dunno know," said Sirius slowly. "I haven't heard it in a while, but I still remember it." He was silent for a few seconds and then his eyes widened.

"It's Bellatrix! She must be under that Polyjuice Potion or something. No wonder the Death Eaters knew where the ship was!"

"Of course," said Lily. "She was in sixth year when we were in first right?"

"Yeah and she would always come over and rat on Padfoot because he wasn't in Slytherin," said James scowling.

"I didn't know that Bella had joined the Death Eaters," said Arielle thoughtfully. She didn't hate Bellatrix as much as the others did, because her mother and Bella's were sisters, Druella and Eliza.

"I did," said Sirius darkly. "She told my parents about it and they were convinced that I should get ready to join as well. I said no and that's why they disowned me."

"They disowned you?" asked Hestia and Lily.

"Yeah," he said darkly. "Of course now Regulus is the perfect son and I was blasted off that old tapestry of our ancestors. I bet he's going to join the Death Eaters. I suppose we should tell the Ministry."

"I'll tell my dad," said James. "He's an Auror and he'll fix it."

A while of silence followed. James' parents who had a summer estate in Spain had come down to get the Marauders and so they left for the villa.

"Bye guys," said James as a green car pulled up. "This is my dad."

"Why does your dad drive a car? Isn't he a huge Auror in the Ministry?" asked Hestia.

"Yeah, but before that he took a job as a taxi driver for the Ministry," said James. The front passenger seat window rolled down and someone with grey hair leaned out.

"Oh, James, I was so worried!" said someone who was obviously James' mother. She got out of the car and pulled her son into a hug. He was about a foot taller then her and it looked very funny.

"Mum, please," said James. Mrs Potter smiled and released her son. Then she caught sight of Sirius and gave him a hug as well.

"Come boys," said Mr Potter, who hadn't even greeted his son. He had left the car as well and was standing behind his wife. Mr Potter went back to the car and started the engine. Sirius, Remus, Peter and Mrs Potter followed.

James, on a spur of the moment, leaned over to Lily and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed furiously and Hestia giggled.

Then he climbed in after Peter and the car drove away.

"Aw, Lily that was so cute!" said Hestia, her eyes dreamy.

"Shut up," said Lily. But her cheek still tingled where James had kissed her.

* * *

The week in Spain passed quickly and then Lily was back at her home. Mrs Evans was glad to see her back, but of course, they hadn't heard about the sinking of the ship. Until she received a letter from the Ministry of Magic apologizing for the sinking that Mr Evans was reading.

Lily, who had been eating breakfast, dove over the table to grab the letter, but by then Mr Evans was already yelling at her for not telling them about it.

When he was done, he went to the living room to read the _Daily Prophet_ that Lily had had delivered.

Petunia sneered at Lily, "Too bad you weren't killed."

Lily scowled and Mrs Evans wacked Petunia over the head with a magazine. "Shush Petunia. I'm very glad that Lily is safe and she's your sister so if anything ever happens to her, it'll effect you."

* * *

On September 1st Lily returned to Hogwarts. She found her friends and sat with them in the compartment before going to the Head's compartment as she was the Head Girl.

"Hey Hestia," said Lily before she left, "who's the Head Boy this year?"

Hestia and Arielle grimaced before answering. "You won't like it."

Lily, who hadn't heard them, said, "Someone said it was a Gryffindor. I bet it was Remus Lupin."

"No it isn't."

"Then – oh no. It's James, isn't it?" They nodded. Lily wailed and began banging her head on the glass door. "Why? Why?"

"Remember, you said you're going to give him a chance," said Arielle. She had ignored Lily's wails and was reading a copy of the Daily Prophet as Hestia watched Lily in amusement.

Without warning the glass door opened and Lily fell forward into someone's arms. "Ah, Lily always falling into me, are we?"

Lily muttered angrily and pushed away from James. "What do you want?"

"Not me. The Head Boy wants the Head Girl to instruct the Prefects because the Head Boy lost the letter which says what the Head Boy is supposed to do." He took her hand and pulled her after him.

After instructing the Prefects, Lily went back to her friends for a while, then had to go and patrol the hallways. Once they were at Hogwarts and had had the feast, Lily collapsed on her bed in the dorm, happy to be home.

* * *

**A/N: hope you liked it. Maybe two chapters left...not sure ... please review**


	10. Chapter 10: The End

**A/N: so sorry haven't updated in forever, been swamped with tons of stuff to do**** and haven't felt the urge to get my fingers typing**** This is the final chapter of Winning the Cruise and I may write a sequel but for now this is the end.**

**Disclaimer: don't own it**

-Chapter Ten-

The next morning dawned too early for Lily to like. Her dreams had been twisted and her mind was still jumbled.

A pillow hit her head and Lily snorted and sat up. Hestia and Arielle were grinning at her.

"What do you want?" asked Lily grumpily.

"It's not us," said Hestia. "The Head Boy wants to see the Head Girl for the duties. It seems the Head Boy has lost his instructions."

Lily growled and rolled out of bed. "He just wants to see _me._"

"Well, yeah," said Arielle as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lily muttered to herself and went into the bathroom. Several minutes later, she emerged wearing her school robes.

The three girls headed downstairs to the common room. Lily looked around.

"Where is that stupid Potter anyways?" grumbled Lily.

Arielle and Hestia exchanged glances. "He's over there by the fireplace," said Hestia.

Lily turned and saw James sitting all by himself. He was slumped over and looked very sad.

"Potter, how on earth did you get yourself to be Head Boy and then lose the instructions?" asked Lily as she sat down beside him.

James looked at her. "I dunno. Habit, I guess. I don't keep track of anything. Except all the notes you've given me."

"What notes?" snapped Lily. "I haven't given you a note. When?" she finally demanded/

James smiled. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of paper.

Lily was sitting there with her mouth agog. "You kept all of those rejections?"

"Well, yeah," said James. "I kept hoping one day I could finally throw them out, when you agree to go out with me."

Lily scowled, but realized how she'd hurt him. She took the piece of parchment he was holding out.

_**Lily Evans, will you consent to go out on a date with James Potter? (ME?)**_

_NO, you idiot. I've said it a million times! __NO, NO, NO, AND NO!_

Lily remembered that note. She giggled. "All of this time, you've kept these letters."

James smiled sadly. "You've never once agreed. Except that time Sirius and Remus tricked you into it. And even then you didn't come. I was sitting at the Three Broomsticks for a whole hour."

"You actually thought I'd show up for that?"

"I thought you had the decency to do that," he said lightly, but it stung Lily. She hung her head.

"I'm sorry, James," she said to her hands. There was an awkward pause. Then Lily said, "Where are your stupid friends?"

"They went to eat," said James. "I wanted to wait for you. Sirius thinks I'm a nut. Mind you, I think I may as well."

"Because you like me?" asked Lily, wounded.

"Nope," said James. "Because there are so many other girls who would die to go out with me, but I never really like them."

"Liar!" said Lily, standing up in disbelief. "You love to go out with girls!"

James didn't look at all shame-faced as he looked up at Lily. "So? I really wanted to go out with you."

Lily shook her head to clear her thoughts. She sat back down beside James.

"It's actually quite funny," said James thoughtfully. "Do you remember on the cruise, when the Death Eaters attacked?" Lily nodded. James continued. "I was trying so hard to impress you. And then you had to go and fall into the bloody water!"

Lily blushed. She was suddenly suspicious. "Did you hear what I said to Arielle the next day?"

"No, 'cause you ran away from me after you slept on my shoulder. What was it?" asked James.

"Nothing!" said Lily, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Oh, was it the fact that you liked me now?" said James casually. "Peter's a good spy."

Lily jumped up and began to shake. "That's not true!"

James smirked. "Sure, Lils, sure." James saw his chance.

"So now that we all now that Lily likes me, shouldn't you give me a chance? I mean you'd still be in the ocean if I hadn't saved you," he reminded her.

Lily stopped her shaking and looked at James. She sighed and hung her head in shame. "I can't believe I'm going to say this: yes. But if-"

But James had grabbed her and given her a big hug. Sirius, Remus and Peter, who, it turned out, had been hiding in the common room the whole time, jumped up as well and the four Marauders began to dance, James and Sirius going quite insane.

Lily was shocked. She backed away from them all and turned to see Hestia and Arielle staring at her with huge grins.

"Aw, Lily, you finally gave him a chance!" squealed Hestia. She was about to give Lily a hug, but James came up from behind Lily and hugged her again.

Lily giggled and smiled. For now all seemed well.

James stopped and threw all the notes of rejection into the fireplace. They erupted into flames.

A/N: aww so cute! The end! Please review, and tell me what you think. I'm thinking about writing another story about Lily and James, but I'm not sure yet.


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